Herodian's Roman
History

Herodian
(late second, first half third century): Greek historian, author of a History
of the Roman Empire since the Death of Marcus Aurelius (table
of contents) in which he describes the reign of
Commodus (180-192), the Year of the Five Emperors (193), the age of the
Severan dynasty (211-235),
and the Year of the Six Emperors (238).

The translation was made by Edward C. Echols (Herodian of Antioch's History of
the Roman Empire, 1961 Berkeley and Los Angeles) and was
put online for the
first time by Roger Pearse (Tertullian.Org).
The version offered on these pages is hyperlinked and contains notes by
Jona Lendering.

6.3: Severus Alexander declares war

[231]When the bold actions of this Eastern
barbarian were disclosed to Alexander while he was passing the time in
Rome, he found these affronts unendurable. Though the undertaking distressed
him and was contrary to his inclinations, since his governors there
were calling for him, he made preparations for departure. He assembled
for army service picked men from Italy and from all the Roman
provinces, enrolling those whose age and physical condition
qualified them for military service.

The
gathering of an army equal in size to the reported strength of the
attacking barbarians caused the greatest upheaval throughout the Roman
world. When these troops were gathered in Rome, Alexander ordered them
to assemble on the usual plain. There he mounted a platform and
addressed them as follows:

"I wished, fellow
soldiers, to make the customary speech to you, the speech from which I,
speaking to the popular taste, receive approval, and you, when you hear
it, receive encouragement. Since you have now enjoyed many years of
peace, you may be startled to hear something unusual or
contrary to your anticipations.

Brave
and intelligent men should pray for things to turn out for the best,
but they should also endure whatever befalls. It is true that the
enjoyment of things done for pleasure brings gratification, but good
repute results from the manliness involved in setting matters straight
when necessity demands. To initiate unjust actions is not proof of good
intentions, but it is a courageous deed to rid oneself of those who are
troublesome if it is done with good conscience; one may expect good
results if he has
done nothing unjust but has avoided injustice.

The
Persian Artaxerxes [1] has slain his master Artabanus [IV], and the Parthian Empire is now Persian. Despising our arms and contemptuous of the Roman
reputation, Artaxerxes is attempting to overrun and destroy our
imperial possessions. I first endeavored by letters and persuasion to
check his mad greed and his lust for the property of others. But the
king, with barbarian arrogance, is unwilling to remain within his own
boundaries
and challenges us to battle.

Let us not hesitate to accept his challenge. You veterans
remind yourselves of the victories which you often won over the
barbarians under the leadership of Severus and my father, Caracalla.
You recruits, thirsting for glory and honor, make it clear that you
know how to live at peace mildly and with propriety, but make it
equally clear that you turn with courage to the tasks of war when
necessity demands.

The barbarian is bold
against the hesitant and the cowardly, but he does not stand up in like
fashion to those who fight back; it is not in close-quarter combat that
they battle the enemy with hope of success. Rather, they believe that
whatever success they win is the result of plundering after a feigned
retreat and flight. Discipline and organized battle tactics favor us,
together with the fact that we have always been taught to conquer the
barbarian."